A Glitch to the Past
by Insert Typical Username Here
Summary: A young hero's tale. An adventure of epic proportions! . . . Only it's not going how it was intended to happen. There is much more ate work here than a simple resurrection of the Demon King. Based on NakaTeleeli's LP of A Link to the Past.


_Long ago, in Hyrule, a beautiful kingdom surrounded by forests and mountains . . . legends told of an omnipotent and omniscient Golden Power that lay hidden._

_It was hidden in a sacred realm beyond the reach of men, but one day . . . a doorway to that realm was suddenly opened._

_Hoping to claim the Golden Power as their own, the people began to quarrel and fight. Many sought to enter the hidden Golden Land . . . but none returne, and instead evil power began to issue forth from the dark portal. So, the king commanded seven sages to-_

"Uncle, that's not right."

"Eh? Wozzat?"

"You changed it. Last time you said they were 'Wise men,' not 'sages'."

"Pshaw, boy. They're the same thing. It's the meaning that counts, not the exact words."

"But—"

"Do you want me to continue, or do you want me to stop?"

" . . . Fine."

_So the king commanded seven sages, ahem, wise men, to seal the gate to the land of the Golden Power. _

_Many brave knights were lost in the battle to protect the sages—_

"Wise men."

-wise men_ from the tides of evil, but the seal was cast! _

"Uncle, this part wasn't in there last time."

"Boy, one more word out of you and you're going to bed right now."

"But it's midday."

"_RIGHT NOW._"

" . . . Grumble, grumble."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Uncle."

_*ahem* Evil flowed no more! And the seal would remain for all time . . . Or so the people hoped._

_But when these events were obscured by the mists of time, and became legend . . ._

" . . . What happened?"

"Don't tell me you don't remember?"

"I, um, er, forgot."

_Sigh_. "I'm going to have to start from the beginning, then."

"What? No!"

"Boy, YOU'RE the one that asked me why you need to learn how to use a sword."

"What does any of this have to do with fencing?"

"If you'd been listening, you would have known."

" . . . Grumble, grumble . . ."

"There it is again. You're just saying the words, 'grumble, grumble'. Is that a trend among young people these days?"

"Uncleeeee . . ."

"Fine, fine. Where was I? . . . Oh, yes. Er, mm, _In the beginning, the Gods created the heavens and the earth . . ."_

* * *

><p>-Nine years later-<p>

_A mysterious wizard known as Agahnim appeared from nowhere. With strange magic powers he killed the good king of Hyrule._

_He cast spells on the soldiers and kidnapped young maidens descended from the sages in order to break the seal._

_This destiny fast approaches for the _final_ maiden: the princess, Zelda . . ._

Help me

Please help me

. . ._ What? Who's there?_

I am a prisoner in the dungeon of the castle

My name is Zelda

The wizard Agahnim has done something to the other girls

Now only I remain

A shuffle. A groan. The rousing from consciousness.

_What's going on? What's this voice?_

Agahnim has seized control over the castle and is now trying to open the Seven Sage's seal

A furrowed brow.

"Who . . . who are you?"

I am in the dungeon of the castle

Please help me

Stretching, yawning, rubbing sleep from azure eyes. The sound of rain is picked up by slender ears.

"You awake, Link?"

Purple hair—completely natural, mind you—was brushed out of the youth's line of sight.

"Uncle?"

"Link, I'm going out for a bit, but there's no need for you to worry. I'll be back by morning, but I don't want you leaving the house until then . . ."

_It would appear Uncle heard of it as well. 'Cuz he's goin' out to cause some trouble, it seems._

Without another word, the figure of Link's uncle closes the door behind him. Footsteps disappear into silence.

'_Course, I can't leave him to do that, so let's get the crap outta bed! No sleep time!_

Link smoothly rolled out of bed, quickly discarding his nightclothes for his preferred green tunic and cap. Making a quick stop at his uncle's item chest to find their portable Magic Lantern, Link determinedly set off into the night.

_Well, this turned out to be a _great_ idea._

Surely, trudging several miles from his uncle's cabin in the woods in the heavy rain at night to Hyrule Castle was the most masterful of plans. Link's eyes narrowed in determination as the stalwart figure of the Capital grew close.

* * *

><p>Several more minutes of hiking found the youth in front of the castle's imposing gates. For a moment, Link was struck with an ominous feeling. Perhaps it was the lightning flashing behind the castle amidst the storm? In any case, it was enough for a guard at the front of the gates to notice Link in the middle of the roadway.<p>

"Hey, hey!"

Link jolted back in surprise.

"You're not allowed in the castle, son! Go home and get some sleep!"

Link sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before heading over to the wall jutting out before the gate, out of the line of sight from the gold-clad guard.

_My goal here is to get through the castle, and _not_ go through the front door. I don't think I'll be able to get in from just anywhere else. Probably guards there._

He followed the stone path leading to the far side of the castle. _Gotta sneak in through the side._

He frowned. _Though, I gotta wonder why there aren't any guards spotting me from up top the ramparts. I mean, it's not like purple hair is the stealthiest hair color in the world._

At the end of the path was a small cluster of bushes and plants. To the average Hylian, this is all that it would be.

However, Link was no average Hylian.

_Mmm hmm hmm hmm, yes. Tremble in fear, bush! The knowledge of your secret has been passed down my family line for generations_

For, underneath a thicket in the relative center of the garden, there lay a path that connected to the castle sewers.

_Welp, it ain't getting' any colder outside. I hope Uncle isn't hurt._

It wasn't as if Link thought his uncle incompetent. Nay, his caretaker had proved time and time again to him in fencing practice why he was once the most powerful force in the Hylian military. However, Link's family line was especially sensitive to magic and large-scale events. It was this sensitivity that had caused Link to know that something was amiss on this night.

Link uncovered the passageway, and, making sure that there was no-one around to watch him, slowly lowered himself into the hole. Then, he let go.

The fall was broken by a pool of water. _Ugh, I hope this isn't what I think it is_. Quickly activating the Magic Lantern, Link cautiously proceeded down the tunnels.

_Man, I have a really bad feeling about this._

It wasn't long before Link's suspicions were tragically confirmed. Slumped against the wall lay the broken figure of the finest knight in Hyrule.

Link stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide in shock. The Lantern crashed to the floor, the magical flame dimming slightly, as the purple-haired youth stumbled over to his caretaker. "Uncle!"

"Ngh . . . Link? Is that . . . you?" the older man managed to cough out, blood dribbling down his chin. "I . . ."

"Uncle! Hang on! Uncle!" Link frantically shouted, panic welling up in his voice.

"Link . . . I didn't want to involve you in this. I told you not to leave the house . . ." a fit of coughing racked the formed knight's body, causing him to spit up a chilling amount of blood. "Take my sword and shield and listen. The technique I was going to teach you today—" _cough, cough_ "—is known as the _Spin Attack_. You focus your power into the blade, and release it using the secret technique handed down by our people."

"Uncle, I—"

"Link, there is no time!" He was once again interrupted by another painful coughing spasm. "You must save the princess . . . Zelda—Zelda is your . . ."

And with one final retch, the blue-haired man slipped into eternity.

"Uncle . . .?" Link could the breath leave the body. It was then that the boy fell to his knees and wept in sorrow.

However . . .

"YOU FOOL!"

A booming voice from nowhere startled Link out of his misery, causing him to look frantically around for the source.

"I'm up here, you blockheaded idiot!"

And lo, did Link look up, only to be greeted by the stern visage of the freshly-deceased.

"Huh? B-but—"

"Did I not say there is no time? Hurry! Get your sorry butt moving!"

"B-but!"

The apparition sighed. "Yes, Link, I'm a ghost. No, Link, I don't know how that works, it involves magic of some kind. Yes, Link, I'll be watching over you. The goddesses have allowed it."

"B-but . . ."

"YOU FOOL!" The booming voice caused Link to flinch. "There is no time to mourn for a knight! Hurry up," and here he uttered language appropriate for the barracks, "and do your goddess-damned duty! Did you not retain anything that I had taught you?"

Link shakily wiped the tears from his eyes, before standing up, his face set in a resolute visage. "Thank you, Uncle." He bent over and picked up his uncle's sword and shield. "Thank you for setting be back on track."

"Feh, lazy boy. Prove to the goddesses you're worthy of being their hero!" And with that, the spirit of Link's uncle vanished in an explosion of manliness. Link turned around, but then stopped. Something was bothering him.

"Wait, what?" Link's brows furrowed. "She's my . . . what?"

No response.

"She's my WHAT?!"

Again, no response.

Grumbling, the green-clad youth trudged deeper into the sewers. Eventually, he came across a room with a couple of knights in it. Even from this distance, Link could feel that these knights weren't normal. They may have had the armor of Hyrule's knights, but the felt the same as the monsters that he hunted on occasion. Without a word, he charged in, taking down one by surprise, and easily overpowering the other.

"Man, what a bunch of jokers," he said as he sheathed his sword. "Of course you weren't real knights. The real ones are far too competent for this." The knights' subsequent explosion into shadow further proved his theory. He casually nabbed a 5-Rupee gem that was in a chest. Why these chests were there, he would never know. He left the room and continued onwards.

* * *

><p>A set of stairs at the end of a hallway found Link back outside in the pouring rain. <em> I'm in the courtyard,<em> he realized. It was unfortunate for him that he just happened to be in sight of several not-knights, as they started towards him, swords drawn. Link, acting quickly, cut several bushes off at the roots. He then took said bushes and threw them at the oncoming enemy. The monsters charged straight into the leafy objects, taking a moment to realize that they had just been impaled.

_Hylian Roses_, Link thought smugly. _Once a branch is cut off, it solidifies and turns into a deadly stabbing implement. Nice to see that the entire bush can do the same._

However, the guards were merely distracted, and not incapacitated, so Link used this opportunity to defeat them. Several slashes later, he found himself the victor, and the abominations the looser. Wasting no time, Link jogged over to the castle's main door and forced it open.

Ducking behind a row of torches, Link immediately made his way to the left side of the castle. He had been here before, on "official business" with his Uncle. He was pretty sure he knew the way he wanted to go. He dashed over to the first door on the left, entering into a long hallway. As he carefully traversed the corridor by the light of his lantern, he stumbled across some more of the green-clad soldiers. Once again, he won a swift victory. Recalling his route from memory, he located the dungeon entrance and hastily descended into darkness once again.

What waited for him at the bottom was a surprise—a blue-armored soldier was stationed in this room, and immediately attacked Link upon noticing his entrance. This one actually gave Link a fair bit of trouble. Rolling out of an incoming swing, Link steadied himself, his sword thrust behind him.

_Uncle, give me strength!_ He silently pleaded, and focused his power, his life force, into the blade. The blue knight raised his sword above his head. In that moment of time, Link stomped with his left foot, gave a mighty cry, and then slashed, cleaving through the knight's armor before the monster had time to attack. It reeled, but Link wasn't through. He followed through, his sword cutting a swath of destruction behind him, then to the opposite side, before once again coming to the front. This time, the blade honed in on the fiend's neck, severing its shadow-filled helmet from its body with ease. It exploded into shadow like everything else Link had slain in this castle. Out of breath, Link stared at the sword he inherited from his uncle in wonder. _So this is the Spin Attack, pride of our family's line_. He grinned. _I like it._ Noticing another one of those oddly-placed chests next to a statue in the middle of the room, he opened it and discovered a map of the castle. Folding it away into a pocket, he picked up a key the soldier had dropped. After unlocking the only other door in the room, he continued his descent into the dungeons.

Traveling further into the catacombs, Link ran into more and more soldiers. At one point, when there were several coming at once, he made the mistake at stabbing at one of the ones already in the process of attacking. The blow left Link wide open, and vulnerable to a subsequent kick to the diaphragm. He traveled back a few yards before dropping to one knee, wheezing and in pain.

"Can't stab their swords, or they'll just knock me back," he muttered dryly. As the knights advanced, he scrabbled backwards, his hands bumping into a smooth object. Link grinned, before grabbing the object and standing in one, smooth motion, and pitching it at the closest knight. Upon impact, the knight exploded into shadow. Using this as a distraction, Link grabbed his sword off of the floor from where it lay, and brutalized his remaining foes. As the dust settled, Link sheathed his sword, and dusted his hands off, still smirking. "Pots. The strongest weapon in the entire land," he lectured, as if the spirits of the newly-departed could actually hear him, save his Uncle.

Because he actually could.

Because he's a ghost.

Quickly chugging a mana potion that had been inside the thrown pot to restore some mana he had used up using the lantern, Link said a quick prayer of thanks to the goddesses for the elusive Kokori, before peering 'round a corner to discover more of the pseudo-soldiers. Link grabbed another pot, knocking the closest soldier off of the wall he was perched on, and slew the others using a quick Spin Attack. He made his escape before the bodies hit the floor.

Link could feel his destination drawing close. Sneaking past two more of the mindless soldiers, he darted into a doorway at the room's far side. Inside was, you guessed it, another knight, who, you guessed it, earned himself a quick defeat. Almost as if on cue, the door that had slammed shut behind Link as he entered opened up, as did one on the other side of the room. Ignoring the locked door opposite him for now, he made his way into the door that had just been opened. Guarding a treasure chest, and with a key on its belt, was another blue knight.

_That makes for two in a row. Weird_. Link thought as it collapsed, defeated. Link's opening Spin Attack gambit had failed, so he opted to go for several quick slashes, taking down the knight with a surprising amount of ease, considering his trouble with the earlier blue soldier.

Holding onto the dropped key, he opened up the room's only chest. Inside lay a blue wooden boomerang.

_Dunno what I'm gonna do with this. I don't think I know how to use a boomerang._ Link thought with a frown. _Still, something tells me that I should take it. Meh, at the very least no-one's gonna use it against me, though I don't see the real use for a wooden toy in a fight._ Giving in to the sudden urge to lift the item skyward and sing a familiar, yet catchy, tune, he stuffed the boomerang into his belt and traversed back to the other room, opening the locked door with the key he had defeated. As he stepped into the hallway that stretched out before him, Link though, _Mighty convenient for each key to fit the next lock I come across. Or is it a one-key-fits-all kinda deal?_ He stared at the key in his hand. _And what happened to the other key that I got earlier? Why didn't I just bring that one along with me?_

The key in his hand subsequently burst into a puff of shadow.

_I guess that's why_.

* * *

><p>Descending two more floors found Link in the room he was aiming for: the castle's Prisoner of War cells. These cells were more comfortable than the average jail, but still cells nonetheless. Link spotted a guard facing the other way, and was quick to dispatch him with a merciless Spin Attack. He then turned to face a new presence: a massive Ball and Chain Knight. Trained to use massive flails as their primary means of attack, theses knights were hardy and deadly. Slow, but strong.<p>

_Even a shadow imitation of one's gonna give me trouble_, Link thought bitterly. He waited until the knight had launched the massive orb of destruction in his direction, before dodging out of the way and rushing up to it to give it a few quick strikes. Avoiding the returning ball, he repeated this process again, before giving up and looking around.

_There's got to be a better way . . ._ _A-_HA! Link ducked into a jail cell, its door opened when the massive ball smashed into it, knocking it off its hinges. He grabbed a pot that had been sitting there, before jumping out into the hallway and pitching the ceramic holding device at the monstrosity. His aim true, the abomination reeled before, like always, exploding into a mess of shadows. Where it once stood lay a golden key, which Link grabbed and jammed into the only closed jail cell's lock. With his luck, it should work. A click and the opening of the door had told Link that his luck had paid off.

At last, he had found Zelda!

"Thank you, Link. I had a feeling you were getting close." Said the princess, gratefully.

"Don't mention it," Link scratched the back of his head sheepishly, before frowning. "Wait, how do you know my name? And how come I wasn't able tell that you were in this cell?"

Zelda waved dismissively. "I used a spell to hide my presence from intruders. I'm defenseless in this cell, you see, so I wanted to hide my presence from . . . questionable figures." Link made a face. "And for the first part . . ." she winked. "That's a secret."

A chill ran down Link's spine.

"But anyway . . ." Zelda grew serious as she stepped out of the cell, turning around to face Link. "Listen carefully. The wizard is magically controlling all of the soldiers in this castle." Link paled. "I fear the worst for my father. The wizard is an inhuman fiend with equally inhuman magical powers."

Seeing Link's horrified expression, she quickly amended, "Worry not, Link. The soldiers you had slain here were mere conjurations of evil magic. The real ones have all mostly been taken captive and are in a room somewhere. Additionally, I believe that many have escaped." Link exhaled a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Zelda put a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

After a moment, Link nodded, his face set once again in determination. "All right, let's get out of here before this wizard notices."

Zelda nodded. "I know a secret path, but first we have to go to the first floor."

"Let's go!" With that, they were off—but not before Link looted a chest of an additional five-rupee gem.

They quickly made their way back to the first floor, ducking out of sight from roaming guards. However, once they were in a safe location away from everything, Link suddenly stumbled and collapsed. Zelda shouted Link's name in panic, but Link couldn't hear her as his senses vanished, and all faded into nothingness.

When Link came to, he noticed that something was off. First, Zelda was behind him, but he could have sworn that there were no guards around. And yet, there was one right in front of them.

"Huh? Zelda?" Link asked, dazedly. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure, myself." Zelda admitted. "I saw you collapse, and hit the floor, but then I closed my eyes for a second, and when I opened them, we were in here, and you were standing."

"That's . . . odd." Link finished lamely. He shook his head to clear it. "C'mon, whatever happened, we gotta get out." Zelda nodded, and the two made a break for the exit. But just after leaving the jail cell, the Ball and Chain soldier, who had mysteriously returned, threw the heavy weapon at the pair. They dodged, but it managed to catch Link in the chest on its return, and he flew back into the wall.

"Link!" Zelda once again cried, rushing over to him. He sat up, groggy and sore. "Link, are you all right?" she asked as she helped him up.

"Yeah, nothing a mana heart won't fix," Link grimaced, then took a look at his surroundings. "Man, I got blown all the way into another room, huh?"

"There seems to be another way," Zelda said, pointing to a hallway at the end of the room they were in. "We can't go back the way we came, with that knight and all, so we might as well try our luck with that."

"Why can't we take him?" Link asked, puzzled.

"That's why," Zelda pointed to the slowly advancing knight, who now had a _second_ ball and chain. For some unknown reason, both were on fire, and they were being swung around at a dizzying pace.

" . . . Let's take our chances," Link declared sagely, before the pair bolted down the hallway.

As they ran, they noticed something strange. It was like they could see below into other rooms, despite being under them. Some rooms they recognized as already being in, while others were mysteries.

Zelda gasped. They could clearly see a room in which a large, piglike beast stood, twirling a three-pronged polearm. "Could that be . . .?"  
>Link shook his head. "I dunno what that is, princess, but I'd rather not meet it right now."<p>

They passed over it, but for some reason, Link could feel its presence, and could have sworn that it saw them.

"Look!" Zelda eventually shouted, after several seconds more of running through the dark passage, "The exit!"

They emerged into what appeared to be some kind of altar. The pair looked around, wondering what could have possibly happened.

Then Zelda gasped, and as Link followed her gaze, his breath, too, was taken away.

Towering before them were three hovering, undulating golden triangles. There was only one thing in, well, _anything_ that matched that description.

The Holy Triforce.

And as Link and Zelda gaped, awestruck, upon these mighty tokens, a voice resonated throughout the chamber, though it was not a voice of the mouth.

_**Welcome, Link. I am the Essence of the Triforce.**_

And as these words were comprehended, the holy artifacts shone a pure light, which, glowing brighter and brighter, filled the chamber with its glory, and Link knew no more.

* * *

><p>Author's note: Welcome, one and all, to yet another one of my works. This time, I'm adapting A Link to the Past—only, as you may have seen, it's going to be a bit different than your normal adaptation. This adaptation is based off of NakaTeleeli's bugged Let's Play, and I shall follow it relatively closely—with variances here and there, of course.<p>

For those that have been reading my other stories, there's a bit of negatively-connotated news that I must divulge. Both "Bus in Gensokyo" and "Hero of Rebirth" have been placed on hiatuses until Palutena-knows-when, and "Oath Sworn through Honor" has been placed on hiatus until the summer. It is also very likely that this fic will also be put on hiatus until the summer as well, or at least until spring break. Sorry for the disappointment.

College kinda takes priority, ya know.

Anyway, I just wanted to get this idea out there for now. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about any of the other ones.

Thank you for understanding, and please leave reviews and criticism, so that I may grow. Thank you again, and have a relatively uneventful day.

Until next time,

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